The trouble with Bali

THE GANGS COME round the neighbourhoods of Denpasar after dark, often near midnight.

They knock on private doors, demanding to see the identity cards of people inside. If the cards show the residents are originally from Bali, no problem. If they are instead from another part of Indonesia, the trouble begins - fines, harassment, beatings and sometimes outright expulsion.

Indonesia has many such problems as the economy remains depressed and the politicians prefer squabbling to running the country. Tough competition is commonplace under banners of race or religion, when the idea of nation is under such strain.

But these neighbourhood 'sweepings', as they're called, are now happening in Bali. And we're not supposed to talk about it, because it's 'bad for tourism'.

The fabled Island of the Gods, the Morning of the World, the South Seas paradise, where nature, religion and beauty intermesh in harmony is in fact a heaving, mostly rich island of three million people. And most of them are intent on getting richer.

Increasingly, as national authority has diminished, the Balinese have become more possessive.

A resident of a mixed and middle-class neighbourhood of Denpasar, Bali's provincial capital, described her fear and anger about the raids, choosing to stay anonymous. With many students in the area and a variety of businesses, there are of course people from parts of Indonesia other than Bali. She quickly hid the Javanese men working on her property when she heard the gangs heading her way.